The young monk seemed completely unaware of their scrutiny, then pressing his palms together, he bowed slightly.
"My respects to the two Senior Brothers. While this young monk was walking along the mountain path just now, I suddenly felt a stirring of intuition in my heart, as though some destined connection were guiding me. And so admiration arose in my heart, and I followed that thread of fate all the way here."
The young monk's gaze swept over the two of them one by one, and he smiled faintly.
"As expected! I have indeed encountered two eminent monks of great virtue here."
On the surface, Genjo spoke lightly and calmly, but inwardly, he was groaning in misery.
He really had followed the guidance of Fortune Sight. He had thought there might be some kind of pleasant surprise waiting for him in this desolate mountain temple.
Only when he arrived outside the temple did he, in shock, discover that there were actually people inside.
It should be known that this clone already possessed one of the finest sensory talents in the current Shinobi World, and with the double enhancement of the Clarity and Master talents, it would not be an exaggeration to call it unmatched in the world. Yet the people inside, he had not sensed them until he reached the door.
In that split second, Genjo still chose to walk in. He had already reached the door, so the people inside had definitely already noticed him. Rather than turning around and leaving, which would only make him look guilty, it was better to walk in openly and directly.
But the moment he stepped through the temple gate, he realized there was not just one person inside, but a second one as well.
At such a close distance, he had failed from beginning to end to sense the existence of that second person.
How was this a pleasant surprise? This was a downright scare!
At this point, he had more or less guessed the identity of the person he had sensed outside the temple earlier, Madara Uchiha.
Genjo's clone had been created with the first Hokage's cells as its core. Wood Style and the God Tree were already connected by countless threads, and at this moment, Madara Uchiha should be covered in a layer of White Zetsu and Black Zetsu.
That faint and elusive sense he had picked up was, rather than sensing the man himself, more like his own Wood Style reacting to that layer of God Tree creation.
But as for the other monk, the one he had failed to sense from beginning to end and who looked utterly ordinary on the surface, what exactly was his origin?
The Sage of Six Paths? Or could it be Isshiki Otsutsuki?
Genjo was startled.
What virtue or destiny did this ruined temple possess to gather these two great gods here?
Although thoughts surged endlessly in his mind, not a trace of it showed on Genjo's face, and the faint smile at the corner of his lips remained as calm and untroubled as before.
"Junior Brother means to say that, before stepping into this temple, you had already sensed the two of us?" Madara Uchiha suddenly spoke.
Hearing the young monk's borrowed words, Madara Uchiha's gaze sharpened slightly.
Before he had stepped into this temple just now, he had been completely unaware of the monk sitting withered in the corner, yet this young monk before him had already noticed the existence of both of them while still far away on the mountain path.
The difference between the two made him unable not to reassess the young monk before him, whose beauty was so striking it hardly seemed mortal.
Genjo's expression remained serene as ever, then he pressed his palms together and inclined slightly. "What this Senior Brother says is not quite right. This is fate."
"The Buddha speaks of cause and condition. Those without fate may brush past one another and still never recognize each other, while those with fate, even if separated by thousands of mountains and rivers, are bound to meet here. Just now, as this humble monk walked along the mountain path, I suddenly felt a stirring of spiritual resonance in my heart, as though wind had brushed across an ancient pool and ripples arose of their own accord. This was not perception, but the arrival of fate and the response of the heart. This humble monk merely followed the guidance of that karmic connection. Now that I see the two Senior Brothers here, I know this journey was indeed not in vain."
'Pretending to be profound and mysterious!'
Madara Uchiha sneered inwardly.
What fate and spiritual resonance, this kid dressed it up nicely, but he was only putting on an act and playing tricks before him.
Yet just as he was about to speak, the young monk before him seemed to have seen through his thoughts and spoke first.
"I imagine this Senior Brother does not believe it either."
Genjo smiled faintly.
"That is only natural. Although Senior Brother is dressed in monk's robes, observes a monk's etiquette, and calls himself a humble monk, you are merely borrowing another man's kasaya to cover your true face. With no Buddha in your heart, the robe on your body is only a layer of cloth to keep out the wind. No matter how long you wear it, you can never truly become a renunciant. To view fate through such a false mask is naturally like looking at flowers through mist; there is always a layer in between. How then could faith arise?"
Madara Uchiha was momentarily stunned. He had not fully understood those words on first hearing, and only after pondering them for a moment did he realize that this young monk before him was calling him a fake monk.
And for some reason, looking at that face, beautiful to an almost excessive degree, still carrying a composed smile, Madara Uchiha felt a long-forgotten unwillingness rise in his chest.
He crossed his arms over his chest and spoke coldly, "A fake monk? You and I have never met before. We only met for the first time today. On what grounds do you call me a fake monk? From where I stand, it's you who looks more suspicious. Dressed like this, with a face more refined than some noble young master, you don't look like a monk at all. If anything, you look even more like a fake monk than I do."
The faint smile remained on Genjo's lips. He nodded lightly and answered calmly, "Senior Brother speaks well. This humble monk is naturally a fake monk as well."
"Oh?"
Hearing that, Madara Uchiha lifted a brow. "You admit that you're a fake monk?"
"Naturally, I am a fake monk."
The prayer beads in Genjo's hand continued to turn at an unhurried pace. "But although both of us are fake, we are not the same. You, Senior Brother, wear monk's robes to cover your body, concealing your original face. This humble monk wears monk's robes to cover the eyes, concealing the delusions I have yet to transcend. You, Senior Brother, seek the Dharma outside the heart and rely upon the kasaya, so yours is a false entry into the world. This humble monk seeks the Dharma within the heart, yet has still not seen true suchness, so mine is false practice."
"Beneath this kasaya, what the Senior Brother hides is yourself. What this humble monk hides is this heart. Although we are both fake monks, Senior Brother's falsehood lies in wearing a skin you should not wear, while this humble monk's falsehood lies in not yet becoming the person he ought to cultivate himself into."